The task of wallpapering partially entails measuring the height of a wall where a strip of wallpaper is to be applied, rolling out a strip of wallpaper having a film of glue pre-applied to one side thereof, and measuring and cutting a strip of paper substantially equal to the measured height of the wall. The paper is cut at the measured length with special attention to cutting the paper evenly and perpendicularly to its length as the cut will form the upper margin of a subsequent strip- Water is applied to the film of glue using a brush or other hand-held tool and the strip is applied to the wall. Thereafter, the steps are repeated to apply subsequent strips in laterally adjacent relation to the first strip. If the wallpaper is patterned then special care must be taken to align the patterns of a subsequent strip with those on the preceding strip applied to the wall. It is very difficult to correctly measure a strip and have the patterns thereon align with the patterns on the preceding strip. Commonly, the subsequent strips are cut extra long, the patterns are aligned manually after the strip is applied to the wall and the extra wallpaper at the top and bottom of the strip is cut therefrom. This procedure is very clumsy, particularly messy and susceptible to human error when aligning the patterns.
Apparatus for automatically wetting a pre-applied film of glue are known in the industry. An example of such apparatus is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,300,471 issued to Desjardin which discloses a reservoir having water contained therein for hydrating a film of glue pre-applied to a sheet of wallpaper. Rollers are provided to guide the wallpaper within the contained water. No apparatus is disclosed in Desjardin for measuring the wallpaper or for cutting the wallpaper. Further, no apparatus is provided to facilitate the alignment of the patterns of one strip of paper with those on a laterally adjacent other strip.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,377,983 issued to Skarsten discloses a reservoir containing paste and having a roller therein immersed within the paste. Wallpaper is fed across the roller which applies a quantity of paste thereto. A "cutting template" is connected to the reservoir and extends forwardly thereof and may be pivoted to press a lower margin thereof against the paper and the surface to which the paper is applied. The paper is cut by drawing a cutting member along the lower margin of the template and against the surface to which the paper is applied. The cutting template may provide a cutting guide but appears to compel the user to cut into a visible part of the wall. No apparatus for measuring the wallpaper or for facilitating the alignment of the patterns on laterally adjacent sheets is provided.